"I really cannot say how proud I feel to be the Queen of such a Nation."
Queen Victoria wearing the George IV Diadem Tiara in Study of the Throne in the House of Lords (Study for Portrait of Queen Victoria) by Thomas Sully, c. 1838
"Sinceramente non riesco a dire quanto sia fiera di essere regina di un tale paese !"
queste le parole che Victoria annotò nel suo diario il giorno della propria incoronazione, il 28 giugno del 1838.
Vi confesso che quando originariamente pensai a questo post fui guidata dall'intento di rendere onore ad una regina che lasciò indelebilmente la propria orma nella storia del XIX secolo e che rese grande l'Inghilterra come non mai prima di allora e di celebrare, nel contempo, tutti coloro che ancora ne serbano il ricordo e la glorificano con una serie di ritratti della regina che più lungamente regnò in Gran Bretagna e che più fu dal suo popolo amata ed ammirata; ma oggi a tutto ciò coniugo la pubblicazione di una notizia ancora una volta divulgata dal Daily Mail in data 11 maggio in cui si legge che Sua Maestà la regina Elisabetta II d'Inghilterra ha deciso di esporre i primisssimi diari di Victoria, scritti tra il 1832 ed il 1836, presso Windsor Castle per esibirli ai visitatori a partire da oggi fino al 25 gennaio del prossimo anno.
Queen Victoria aged 18 by Charles Robert Leslie, 1837
Queen Victoria by Charles Brocky, 1841
Quella della scrittura era infatti una grande passione che Victoria coltivava già dall'infanzia: era l'agosto del 1832 quando, in procinto di compiere un viaggio educativo che l'avrebbe condotta ad avvicinarsi a coloro che sarebbero un giorno divenuti i suoi sudditi in un paese che ancora non conosceva in tutte le sue svariate differenze, consegnò alla madre, la duchessa di Kent, il suo primo diario; ella aveva 13 anni e già era posseduta da questo trasporto che la condurrà a divenire la regnante che in assoluto scriverà di più: tra corrispondenza pubblica, privata e diari di Victoria ci è pervenuta sicuramente un'enorme quantità di documenti cartacei .. pensate che solamente quanto ad annotazioni diaristiche, ella colmò con i propri pensieri e considerazioni scritte ben oltre 43.000 pagine per un totale di 141 diari curati fino a dieci giorni prima del suo decesso avvenuto all'età di 81 anni nel 1901.
A partire dal 1833 ella dedicherà quotidianamente al proprio diario la mezz'ora di tempo che precedeva le lezioni di storia, geografia, latino e cultura generale.
Queen Victoria by Robert Thorburn, 1844
( Diari brevi sono stati scritti anche in Hindustani, lingua che Victoria cominciò ad imparare nel 1887, dieci anni dopo essere stata nominata Imperatrice delle Indie )
Per chi ancora non ne fosse inoltre a conoscenza mi piace render noto che gli scritti privati della regina Victoria che recano annotazioni sui fatti più importanti occorsi durante i 63 anni del suo regno, dalla guerra boera a quella in Crimea, sono accessibili presso il sito web http://qvj.chadwyck.com/marketing.do creato da sua maestà la Regina Elisabetta II il 24 Maggio del 2012 in onore della ricorrenza della nascita della sua trisavola e per chi coltiva particolare inclinazione e curiosità per questo delizioso personaggio storico consiglio vivamente di sfogliare il Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Scrapbook che illustra eventi e considerazioni corredate da fotografie che vanno dall'infanzia di Victoria all'anno del Royal Jubilee del 1887 disponibile on-line all'indirizzo http://www.queen-victorias-scrapbook.org/.
Immagini risalenti al 1887 prodotte in occasione delle celebrazioni del Royal Golden Jubilee
Concludo questo mio scritto celebrando infine la maestà di Victoria con una serie di ritratti in cui i più celebri pittori del tempo hanno cercato di darvi espressione per tramite di una rappresentazione su tela, coniugando mirabilmente la dolcezza del suo sguardo, la mitezza e l'umiltà del suo temperamento che traspaiono dai lineamenti del suo volto con la regalità degli abiti e dei monili propri del ruolo storico che fu chiamata mirabilmente e rivestire.
Queen Victoria in a miniature with the Diamond spike Tiara
Queen Victoria by John Partridge, 1840
Queen Victoria by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, detail, 1842
Queen Victoria by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, c.1844 - 1845
Queen Victoria in Wedding Veil by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1847
First of May 1851 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter - painting of a young Queen Victoria in a Diamond spike Tiara, with her firstborn child, and Prince Albert at her back.
The Cousins: Queen Victoria and Victoire, Duchesse de Nemours by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1852
Queen Victoria by Charles Lucien Luis Muller, 1856
Queen Victoria by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1859
The Secret of England's Greatness - Queen Victoria presenting a Bible in the Audience Chamber at Windsor by Thomas Jones Barker, 1861
Queen Victoria in a miniature with the George IV Diamond Diadem Tiara
E dopo aver ammirato con voi questi preziosi dipinti vi giunga colmo di gioia il mio più caro ed affettuoso saluto.
A presto ♥
"I really cannot say how proud I feel to be the Queen of such a Nation."
- picture 1 - Queen Victoria wearing the George IV Diadem Tiara in Study of the Throne in the House of Lords (Study for Portrait of Queen Victoria) by Thomas Sully, c. 1838
These are the words that Victoria wrote in her diary on the day of her coronation, on June 28th, 1838.
I confess that when I first thought about publishing this post I was originally driven by the need to pay tribute to a queen who left her indelible mark in the history of the XIXth century and who made England as great as never before, and to celebrate, in the meanwhile, all those who still keep remembrance of her and glorify her with a series of portraits of the queen who reigned longer in Great Britain and who was the most loved and admired by her people; but today I conjugate to it the publication of a new read again on the Daily Mail published on May 11th, which states that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has decided to expose the very early Victoria's diaries, written between the years 1832 and 1836, at Windsor Castle in order to display them to all the visitors from today until January 25th next year.
- picture 2 -Queen Victoria aged 18 by Charles Robert Leslie, 1837
- picture 3 - Queen Victoria by Charles Brocky, 1841
That of writing was in fact a great passion that Victoria cultivated since her early childhood: it was August of 1832 when, in the process of making an educational trip that would have taken her around her country and get closer to those who would one day become her subjects in a country that she didn't know in all its myriad differences yet, gave to her mother, the Duchess of Kent , her first journal; she was 13 years old and was already owned by this transport that will lead her to become the ruler who will write more in absolute: among public, private correspondence and diaries by Victoria surely we received a huge amount of paperwork ... just think that, as annotations in her diaries, she filled with her own written thoughts and considerations over 43,000 pages for a total of 141 diaries cared till ten days before her death occurred at the age 81 in 1901.
( Short Diaries were written in Hindustani too , a language that Victoria began to learn in 1887 , ten years after she was named Empress of India )
Starting from 1833 she will devote her daily journal half an hour of the time that preceded hre lessons of history, geography, Latin and general knowledge.
- picture 4 -Queen Victoria by Robert Thorburn, 1844
( Short Diaries were written in Hindustani too , a language that Victoria began to learn in 1887 , ten years after she was named Empress of India )
For those who still don't know it yet I want to make known that thirteen of the private writings of Queen Victoria bearing annotations about the most important events that occurred during the 63 years of her long reign, from the Boer War to the Crimea one, are available at the website http://qvj.chadwyck.com/marketing.do created by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on May 24th, 2012 in honor of the annivrsary of her grand - grand - grandmother's birth and for those who cultivate the inclination and curiosity for this delightful historical figure I highly recommend to browse the Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Scrapbook illustrating events and considerations accompanied by photographs from Victoria's childhood to the year of the Royal Jubilee (1887), available on-line at http://www.queen-victorias-scrapbook.org/.
- picture 5 and picture 6 - Images dating back to 1887 published in occasion of the celebrations of the Royal Golden Jubilee
I conclude my writing finally celebrating Victoria's majesty with a series of portraits in which the most famous painters of the time tried to give it expression through a representation on canvas, beautifully combining the sweetness of her look, the meekness and the humility of her temperament transpiring from the features of her face with the royalty of the clothes and the jewelry of the historical role that she was called to play and which admirably did.
- picture 7 - Queen Victoria in a miniature with the Diamond spike Tiara
- picture 8 -Queen Victoria by John Partridge, 1840
- picture 9 -Queen Victoria by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, detail, 1842
- picture 10 - Queen Victoria by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, c.1844 - 1845
- picture 11 - Queen Victoria in Wedding Veil by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1847
- picture 12 - First of May 1851 by Franz Xaver Winterhalter - painting of a young Queen Victoria in a Diamond spike Tiara, with her firstborn child, and Prince Albert at her back.
- picture 13 -The Cousins: Queen Victoria and Victoire, Duchesse de Nemours by Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1852
- picture 14 - Queen Victoria by Charles Lucien Luis Muller, 1856
- picture 15 -Queen Victoriaby Franz Xaver Winterhalter, 1859
- picture 16 -The Secret of England's Greatness - Queen Victoria presenting a Bible in the Audience Chamber at Windsor by Thomas Jones Barker, 1861
- picture 17 -Queen Victoria in a miniature with the George IV Diamond Diadem Tiara
And after admiring together with you these precious paintings, full of joy might my most affectionate greeting, sent with all my heart, reach you all !
See you soon ♥